...an award-nominated Irish blog on Irish history and Irish politics-from today and yesterday:all 32 Counties !Updated a number of times each week . (Mirror site here)

Monday, August 20, 2007

STREET TALK ....... The name Tony Gregory was virtually unheard of outside Dublin before 1982 when he was elected to Leinster House as an independent in Dublin Central , a post he still holds . He made the headlines with the famous 'Gregory Deal' in the same year when , in return for his support , the Fianna Fail government pumped £76 million into the redevelopment of inner city housing . By Sean Ó Donáile . From 'USI NEWS' , February 1989.

Tony Gregory on Education :

" Most of the children in my area never even get the chance to think of what type of education they want . Its a whole different world from those who grew up in an affluent background and those two worlds never meet . There is only one way to bridge that gap and that is by building a socialist state in this country . "

We asked him how would one go about doing that - will we not all turn into 'commie bashers' or should we keep 'the Reds under the beds' as we have been so often told ? He answered : " We must create an equal society and get rid of the privileges and wealth , currently in the hands of a minority . It's a matter of consciousness to create a more equal society and everybody plays a small part . It's a very slow process and because we are such a conservative people it will be slower here than elsewhere . We've been brainwashed into believing that what was going on in the socialist states was evil and bad , whereas the opposite was the case , the U.S. being the greatest tyranny in recent years . We must progress pragmatically and in a realistic fashion , step by step ."

But where do we begin the ascent of this ladder ? I continued to pry : " The National Question has to be resolved before getting anywhere near to a socialist solution in Ireland . It would be a major step forward to get the British out of Ireland , that is one of the primary steps ......."(MORE LATER).

A QUESTION OF LIBERATION .......

Feminists and anti-imperialists in Ireland have often regarded each other's struggles with misunderstanding , mutual suspicion , and sometimes outright rejection . What then is the relationship between them ? Eibhlin Ni Gabhann surveys the emergence of women's liberation groups in Belfast and Dublin over the past decade or so , and some of the questions they have faced . From 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983.

At the All-Ireland Women's Conference in 1978, the 'Women Against Imperialism' group organised a tour of women relatives of political prisoners throughout the South , and publicised the situation of women in the Northern ghettos facing British Army and RUC repression . Together with women in Sinn Fein they were instrumental in the early efforts to publicise the conditions of women prisoners in Armagh Jail, and eleven members of Women Against Imperialism were arrested at a picket outside Armagh Jail on International Women's Day in 1979 .

Two of those women , Margaretta D'Arcy and Liz Lagrua, eventually served short sentences in Armagh Jail themselves as a result of their refusal to pay fines arising from the arrests . However , not long after the campaign organised to highlight those arrests and the subsequent court case , the 'Women Against Imperialism' group dissolved . Some of the women involved believed that the way forward for the women's issue was to take it up directly within the main anti-imperialist grouping , the Republican Movement , and that circumstances now favoured this more than had previously been the case .

At any rate , many of the Women Against Imperialism group went on to join Sinn Fein or the IRSP and to raise the question of women there . Down South , it was perhaps even more difficult for women to take up the issue of women's liberation.......(MORE LATER).

A Dublin businessman paid a leading INLA man to evict his tenants after a young female tenant spurned his sexual advances . The businessman , Thomas Gear, a middle-aged jeweller , is now facing possible civil action by his young victim , 'Magill' magazine has learned .

The alleged leader of the INLA in the South , Gary Adams, was recently jailed for twelve months for his part in the illegal evictions ; his co-accused , Thomas Murray and Damien Bond , were also sentenced for taking part . Because all three pleaded guilty in the Special Criminal Court in Dublin to unlawful intimidation , few details emerged . However , statements obtained by 'MAGILL' show that the INLA gang were recruited indirectly by Thomas Gear in July 1996 , after his lodger , Saoirse Mullen , rejected his sexual approaches .

On July 23 1996 , Saoirse Mullen was asleep in her room at 8 Oaktree Drive , Castleknock , Dublin , when Thomas Gear arrived home after playing badminton . According to M/S Mullen , he 'barged' into her room , threw himself on top of her in the bed and started to kiss her forcibly . " He kept saying he loved me . I put my hands around his neck to push him off me , " she said . " I was screaming for my friend Marguerite to come and help me to get away ." Marguerite Beggan was also lodging in the house at the time.......(MORE LATER).

(Please Note : a brief report and some photographs of yesterdays Eamonn Ceannt Commemoration can be found here.)